After the movie and while everyone tended to their work backlog Ezraphel and Stan retired to their room. They had a lot to unpack from the events that happened on the porch and Stan decided to get into it.
"You don't seriously think I'm dumb enough to believe that shit do you?"
"I-"
"I said it before and I'll say it again, for as much as a ditzy airhead you can be at times I know you're not actually an idiot Ezraphel" he continued past her attempts.
"I know!" she yelled loudly and desperately enough that even Stan jumped a little "I know I…fucked up Stanley. I know how this seems and if I could I would take it back."
"Then why don't you?"
"It is impossible to control time."
"Not that" he scowled "I know you know a way to stop the corruption or hold it off. Why not do that and call it a day?"
"I…" she trailed off "I can't."
"You can't or you won't."
"…" The Lilim remained silent.
"I think we're done here."
"Wait-"
"No, no I think that just about sums everything up."
"Stanley you don't understand."
"I do understand!" he snapped with a sneer "I got played. You lulled me into a false sense of security and made me trust you all the while chipping away at my defenses. The truth is at this point I wouldn't be able to stop you one way or the other if you decided to corrupt everyone on a fucking whim!"
"That is not it!" Ezraphel shouted looking incensed "Amelia made the choice herself after I presented the information for her! She chose this!"
"Of course she did" he sneered.
"I did not manipulate her at all!"
"I believe you" he stated calmly "and even if it's FUCKING STUPID I also believe you had a lapse in judgment and left your…breast milk in the fridge."
That caused the Lilim to stiffen "you knew?"
"About what? The milk?"
Ezraphel nodded.
The question through him for a loop as he sputtered in utter incredulity while giving her and expression that screamed are you serious right now?
"Of course I knew!"
He paused seeing the oddly bashful expression on her face as she looked away with a blush and almost rolled his eyes.
Putting a hand to his forehead he sighed "that's beside the point anyway" he jabbed a finger at her "you had all day to see Amelia was corrupted and put a stop to it. It didn't need to escalate and you didn't need to let her have a choice. But you did because you knew she would accept becoming a Mamono…because who wouldn't" he finished lowly.
"And what is so wrong with that?" Ezraphel retorted with a frown "I told her everything Stanley."
"Ez, the only people who would say no to becoming a Mamono or Incubus especially if the deal is coming from you are hardcore religious fanatics, paranoid delusionists or stubborn assholes like me."
To this Ezraphel folded her arms "then that seems to be an issue with the human condition rather than I."
"Yeah…and isn't that a fucking shame" he shook his head "Ez I'm really trying to understand why you'd do something like this without me chalking it up to you being a manipulative bitch or just not being strong enough to go against your nature."
"…I don't think you would understand if I explained it."
"It's either you try to explain it or I completely reevaluate our relationship" he stated bluntly "because this shit right here seems to me like we're balancing precariously next to a slippery slope and I very much would like not to be on this wagon when it teeters over the edge."
Ezraphel did not need him to spell out that analogy. He meant to leave the relationship, to leave her and that cannot happen. So swallowing any self doubts and worries Ezraphel went on to explain her reasoning for wanting to turn Amelia into a Mamono. She spared no details as she made her case and throughout it all Stan listened with a contemplative expression.
By the end of it he nodded "I believe you."
"You do?" even with their bond and her ability to read emotions she could not sparse his own for some reason.
"I accept that there are some things about you that will never truly make sense to me. I don't think you're the kind of person who would maliciously lie through her teeth and manipulate people like some kind of puppet master to get what she wants."
"I would never lie to you."
"Yeah but you won't tell me things."
"You told me not to so long as it doesn't affect you or I can resolve the situation myself."
In response to that Stan let out a groan as he massaged his temple "yeah I did say that didn't I?" he shook his head "that's my bad but to be honest I don't necessarily care too much about Amelia becoming a mamono since that's her choice. I'm not worried about her I'm worried about you."
"You think I will use this as an excuse to corrupt more humans since even without my influence they would choose to become Mamono."
"Yeah" he nodded "and then the ones you turn will eventually fuck up, expose themselves and well…I don't need to tell you how that would go."
"War…"
"Yep"
"I would never allow such an outcome. I will use everything in my power to ensure that never happens."
In response Stanley fell backwards onto the bed to stare at the ceiling and mutter under his breath "for better or worse right?"
Ezraphel decided to join him on the bed spooning herself against him and resting her head on his chest. It was a bit awkward given the height disparity however the ensuing silence was less so. Stanley's hand even drifted to rake through her hair absently as he contemplated things while looking at the ceiling.
Eventually Stanley broke it with his next words "you asked earlier if we were okay" he paused "to be honest I don't think we are."
He waited for Ezraphel to comment however she remained silent.
"For what it's worth I'm not planning on ending our relationship or anything but…yeah, I'm going to need time to process."
Ezraphel released a shuddering breath "I understand…and I am sorry."
"It's…not fine, not really but you do you. I'd be the worst hypocrite if I told you to change who you are fundamentally to suit my needs when you've been putting up with my bullshit for half a year. So what exactly is the plan with Amelia?"
Another bout of silence before Ezraphel sighed "I promised to aid her in her transition into a Mamono to the best of my abilities. I even gave her the choice of what she wanted to become."
"Good idea, last thing anyone needs is for her to turn into a Centaur or Lamia."
"She had those same thoughts in mind."
"Hm, my better half would want you two to break the news to Liam before you go through with this…but on the other hand I doubt he would mind the change too much after the initial shock of seeing his fiancée become a monster girl."
"Liam loves Amelia very much" Ezraphel spoke "he would not leave her for something so trivial."
"I wouldn't call turning his fiancée into a monster girl trivial Ez."
"All the same I believe their relationship will become stronger after her transformation."
"As a pessimist I have mixed feelings about that."
"You need to be more optimistic."
"I was…then this happened."
"Ah…" Ezraphel trailed off awkwardly with a wince.
Luckily the silence did not last long.
"By the way what's the plan for monsterizing Amelia?"
"I would transport her to a pocket dimension where she would undergo her transformation and thorough education."
"Okay and when are you planning to do this?"
"Ideally tonight."
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why? Hardly any time will pass in the pocket dimension."
"That's not it. I think you should wait until they go home because let me tell ya, it's going to be fucking jarring for everyone else when Amelia changes overnight."
"I have excellent illusion spells."
"I'm talking personality Ez. You saw how everyone looked at her today. You saw how they reacted to me yesterday. At least I have the excuse of time and distance to explain my changes."
Ezraphel hummed "it would also give her and Liam time to adjust in private."
"Exactly and speaking of, after thinking on it for a while I think you should definitely tell Liam before going through with it."
"That would be up to Amelia."
"If you won't tell him and she won't tell him then I will."
"What happened to not caring that much about it?"
"Not gonna lie I was prepared to wash my hands of this entire mess and let the two of you handle it but then I realize how much of a disaster that would be. Leaving Liam at the mercy of you and Amelia is just a cruel and unusual punishmen-ow!"
While she pinched his cheek for his insolence Ezraphel felt grateful that despite everything they were still on relatively good terms.
"What's everyone doing right now?"
"Kendall and James are in their rooms and Kendrick is in the living room. All are preoccupied with their work."
"What about Amelia and Liam? Amelia pounced on him yet?"
"No, I took the liberty of halting the effects of corruption for the time being."
"Good" at that he leaned forward causing Ezraphel to back away much to her reluctance "then we can get this show on the road."
Meanwhile…
'What the hell am I doing?'
He was supposed to be compiling information for a quick video he would do once he got back home.
'I feel like I'm missing something.'
It's been like that all day to be honest and it all stemmed from his fiancée. At this point he's asked if she's alright enough times that it would become annoying and every time the answer has been the same. Amelia was fine…or so she claimed but it has become impossible for him to ignore her strange behavior. Even something as banal as her antagonistic relationship with Stan took on a more serious edge out of nowhere. Three guesses as to the reason why that is because that's the only thing he has in trying to figure out what it was all about. Neither Amelia nor Stan for that matter is willing to disclose the reasons behind their sudden hate for each other.
Then there was the other thing, namely Amelia's sudden sex drive ramping up to eleven. Now to be fair Amelia did have a higher than normal sex drive and was super casual about being lewd and crude. At one point in her life she was completely fine with becoming a porn star which was still such a wild concept to him. Even wilder was the fact that despite the situation being mildly disconcerting he was actually looking forward to continuing where they left off earlier.
A man not particularly bothered by his beautiful and sexy fiancée wanting to have more sex and actually looking forward to it?
Crazy right?
Unfortunately it appeared that whatever had gotten into Amelia that day had run its course because she has gone back to normal it would seem. A bit disappointing but ultimately he felt it was for the best. The last thing he wanted was to run the risk of impregnating her since for all that he loved Amelia and wanted to have a child he wanted this to be a deliberate act rather than a surprise.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Suddenly his musings were interrupted by a knock at their door and with Amelia both closer and only on her phone presumably checking her socials she opted to answer it.
"I got it."
Liam didn't even pretend he was busy as he watched her do this particularly because she chose to wear one of his shirt and underwear which gave a great view of her shapely legs and ass. His shameless ogling was interrupted when the doors open revealing a sight he did not expect. He could recognize Ezraphel's frame from this angle and Amelia seemed just as surprised by this fact.
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
"Stanley wants to speak with Liam before we got through with the…process."
Liam perked up at his name and Amelia gave him a quick side glance as she asked "what for?"
This time Stan was the one to speak "because if you're gonna go through with this he might as well know what he's about to get into."
Amelia gave another side glance at him meeting his eyes before stepping outside and shutting the door behind her. Hearing a few hurried and exchange Liam stood ready to investigate what was happening but he didn't even make it halfway before the door opened again. Amelia stepped inside looking very unsure of herself while Ezraphel and Stan followed behind the latter of which closed the door.
"Amy, what's going on?" he asked glancing at the three.
Still looking a bit unsure of herself Amelia answered "babe I…there's something I need to tell you?"
"What is it?"
Stan chose to make himself comfortable by sitting on the bed and patting the next to him "might want to sit down for this one."
"I think I'll stand" he replied with a frown.
"I think you should take his advice babe."
Liam looked to his fiancée with mild surprise and allowed her to guide him to take a seat beside Stan "okay, now what?"
"Now, Ez do the thing."
"Wait just like that?" Amelia spoke giving the man a surprised look.
Ezraphel herself seemed to be of the same mind "are you sure?"
"Better he sees it first than having to go through the whole song and dance of him thinking we're crazy."
Now Liam is both dreading and anticipating what was about to happen seeing how serious everyone was he began to mentally prepare himself.
"Very well then."
Liam was not ready for wind to start picking up out of nowhere and for Ezraphel to suddenly start emitting light. He was definitely not ready for her to suddenly sprout horns, wings and a tail. She looked like a demon with piercing red eyes, snow white hair, flawless pale skin and above all a devilish beauty that Liam just could not take his eyes off of. Sound seemed to become muted all around him as all his focus seemed to be forcefully taken by the inhuman beauty standing before him.
How could something like this even exist?
"Am I dreaming?"
As the words left his lips his head was forcefully turned and he was met with the face of Amelia.
"Snap out of it right now or so help me I will bitch slap you into oblivion."
Funny enough that actually did work to bring him back yet his gaze immediately lingered to the other woman in the room.
"Hey!" his face was turned back to Amelia "you only get to look at me like that understand?"
"I…" he paused to swallow feeling his heart beating rapidly
"It's okay, nod if you do."
"Tone down the charm Ez, you're turning him into a caveman" came Stan's voice.
"I already have."
"Well damn, looks like your boy ain't loyal Amelia."
Liam frowned at this and Amelia scowled "shut. The fuck. Up."
Thankfully the banter distracted him enough for him to shake off enough shock for him to make coherent sentences again.
"Okay, I'm okay"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, yeah" he glanced back at Ezraphel with his eyes lingering on her extra features and shook his head "no, not really. What the hell is going on!?"
Stan chose to answer that "might as well get comfortable. Ez, put a barrier. This is going to take a while."